Cloned
by DemonSaya
Summary: AU The Morishima family made cloning possible. 50 years after Inuyasha Morishima's fiancee killed herself, he finds himself looking at her exact double. InuxKag, SanxMir
1. Chapter 0

Inuyasha Morishima ran a hand through his hair and sighed as he walked into the apartment. Work had been long and tiresome. He'd begun working at his father's cloning company Three years previously, which is when he'd first 'received' Kikyou as a gift. The girl was beautiful, poised, and to him, perfect.

Although technically he was only fifteen years old mentally and Kikyou was eighteen and human, he had proposed to her on her eighteenth birthday.

She had accepted.

In a little under a month, they were to be married.

He smiled, lightly touching the ring box in his pocket. "Kikyou! Tadaima!"

Silence met his call.

He frowned, walking deeper into the house. A strange smell was tickling his nose. His eyes slowly widened as he reached the kitchen, where a tea kettle was hoarsely whistling. He stepped into the room and immediately fell backwards out of the room. He stared at the room, and took several steadying breaths. 'No...god no...' He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that it was just a dream. A lie.

Anything but the truth.

However, when he opened them again, the scene hadn't changed.

Kikyou lay on the floor in front of the sink, a knife loosely in her relaxed grip. Blood pooled on the floor around her. Her face was splattered with it, and her hair lay in an ever widening pool of it. Her grey eyes stared lifelessly out at him. The blood was pouring from a rather large wound in her somach.

Tears pierced the hanyou's eyes and he pressed his hands over his mouth, backing away from the room. 'No...nonononono...' A dreadful realization hit him and he slowly stood, walking back into the room. On the kitchen table was a small scrap of paper with a not on it.

_I'm Sorry..._

He stared at the note, his heart throbbing. "K-Kikyou...why...why?" He picked up the note and slid into a chair, tears still dancing in his eyes.

His phone rang and he slowly pulled it out of his pocket. It was his brother. Slowly, he opened it, pressing his hand to his face. "Hello?" He asked softly.

"What's wrong?"

The hanyou began to shake. He pressed his hands to his face harder and tears began fall down his face. "K-Kikyou...she's..." He began to cry outright.

There was a silence on the other side of the line. "I'm calling father and the authorities. We'll be there soon."

The line went dead and He flipped his phone closed. He crossed his arms and pressed his face against them, crying without shame into them. 'Why...why?'

Inutaishou Morishima was dozing in his chair and was startled out of his sleep by the ringing of his phone. "Hmm? Whoizzit...?"

"Father, I just sensed a change in Inuyasha's youki. Something is wrong. It involves his fiancee."

The taiyoukai's eyes snapped open and he sat upright. "Get to his apartment now, I'll be over shortly."

Inutaishou hung up the phone and stood slowly. His face was noticeably pale as he snatched his coat from the hook beside the door and began pulling it on. A moment later, he slammed the door open, an action which caused his secretary to jump, startled and motion in the outside offices to freeze.

The taiyoukai turned towards his secretary, Kagura and took a steadying breath. "Cancel all appointments for the next three days. I have a family emergency to take care of." He said evenly, then gave a quick glance around the room. Naraku, his chief scientist was pacing at one of the phones, a scrap of paper clutched in his hands.

Kagura was already making phone calls.

Everyone else was presently scrambling to comply with the whirlwind they knew would be coming.

After all, 'Family Emergency' never meant anything good to a Morishima.

Especially when it was said in such a cold and dispassionate manner.

The taiyoukai swept towards the elevators, pulling his cell phone out and flipping it open without ceremony. "Kyoko-san...No, I'm afraid this is business. Send a few cars to Inuyasha's apartment. No, I don't know the details yet. Something involving his fiancee...yes." The elevator doors closed behind him, and he missed the stunned look on the scientists face.

Naraku stared after the man, his face pale. 'Something had happened to Kikyou? But she was supposed to finish the code today...She was leaving Inuyasha to be with me...' His eyes narrowed. 'The hanyou must have killed her...'

Of course, Inutaishou wasn't a mind-reader, so he had no idea of Naraku's rather misplaced interest in Inuyasha's fiancee. Instead, he got off the phone with Kyoko Mirimachi, then dialed up his driver, Touga Hoshimoto. Kyoko was the head of his security agency, which dealt directly with the human police, and Touga was a priest who could help in subduing Inuyasha, if it came to that.

Inutaishou prayed that it didn't. "Touga-kun. Bring the car around. Yes, I know. I'm taking a few days off..." He listened to his friend speak about his recently graduated son and smiled a bit. "Married. Humph. And only a month ago, they were trying to kill each other. No, family emergency. Inuyasha's fiancee. I don't know. No, I don't think you should drive like a bat out of hell."

They said their goodbyes and he hung up the phone. He'd been friends with the Mirimachi's and Hoshimoto's for over a century, and each generation had someone working for him. Some he cared for more than others, as it was with Kyoko and Touga. The elevator reached the bottom floor of the high rise and he stepped out, finding Kyoko and Touga waiting with concerned expressions.

He gave a weak excuse for a smile.

They walked with him to the car and Kyoko split off, going and sitting next to the priest.

When the car began moving, he closed his eyes, resting his head back against the headrest. He had suspected something was wrong with Kikyou the day before, when she'd seemed to rush through her work and flee to the safety of her private car. He had asked her if she had something she needed to talk about and she'd shaken her head in that rather calm manner and said that it would all be resolved soon.

Her words now gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach.

What if Kikyou was unhappy with the prospect of marrying Inuyasha and he had been going to kill her? What if the boy's demon blood had taken over and he'd gone into a rage, killing those clone cops that were on their way there at that very moment. What if he...

He pinched the bridge of his nose. The what ifs were giving him a headache.

He had always been closer to his hanyou son than the full demon one. Probably because the boy's mother had died when both were old enough to remember her. Sesshoumaru didn't remember his mother, being only a year old when a band of rouge humans had murdered her.

The humans had quickly been punished by the judicial system. The magistrate had forfeited their trial and demanded their executions on the spot for murdering the woman.

Justice had been served for that death.

He had been sad, for he'd loved the demoness, but they hadn't been married long.

However, with Inuyasha's mother...

"Izayoi..." He closed his eyes slowly.

They had been married for eight years before she finally managed to conceive and carry a child to term. The resulting child was Inuyasha. She had nearly died in labor, suffering from hemorrhages.

They told him that she should not give birth again.

And yet, it was as if a switch had finally been turned on. Not six years later, the woman was pregnant once again. He'd worried and fretted, and then...he died.

She died in labor, and gave birth to a still born child.

A short time later, the room was bathed in the blood of the inept hospital attendants.

The enraged taiyoukai had been locked, by miko's, into the room for almost three days, until finally, the shield came down and two hesitant demon children walked in.

One was the now six year old hanyou, his hand protectively encased in eighteen year old Sesshoumaru's. Both boys walked towards the enraged demon and Inuyasha pulled his hand from Sesshoumaru's and threw his arms around his father's neck.

He'd almost killed his son, then.

But then, as he raised his claws to do so, soft sobs reached his ears and a brutal realization hit him in the face.

He was a father, still. He had a son that needed his guidance, that needed his love, as Sesshoumaru had all those years ago. Just like that, the blood lust had faded.

He knew what grief could do to a demon, and he worried that the passionate hanyou would probably fall victim to it, and the blood lust would consume him.

If he and the boy's brother couldn't ease the blood lust in the boy's veins, then he would have to do something he'd always prayed he would never have to do.

He would have to kill one of his sons.

Sesshoumaru found the door to Inuyasha's apartment was already open. Inuyasha's youki felt strange still, and the scent of blood filled the air. The youkai sniffed the air delicately, then moved towards the kitchen, where he suspected his brother was. He could hear sirens in the distance and knew his father had worked his magic, as usual.

He reached the doorway and looked dispassionately at the scene before him. Inuyasha sat at the table, a piece of paper clutched in his hands, his head lowered, face hidden by the thick white hair that was the trademark of a Morishima.

On the floor was his fiancee's lifeless body, surrounded by a pool of blood, her eyes staring blankly into nothing. The knife still stuck out of her stomach, one of her hands wrapped lightly around it. Rigor hadn't yet set in.

Finally, he allowed his gaze to return to the deathly still hanyou. "Inuyasha."

The hanyou lifted his gaze and Sesshoumaru breathed an inward sigh of relief. Perfectly normal hanyou features. Golden eyes, no stripes on his cheeks, smaller fangs and claws. He hadn't transformed.

Inuyasha closed his eyes in shame and lowered his face. His ears could easily pick up the sound of sirens coming towards his apartment. "Where's dad?" He asked softly, his voice sounding thick with grief, with pain, but he was controlling it well.

"He's on his way." Sesshoumaru pulled out a chair at the table and sat down, his face serious.

To anyone else, this scene would probably look like something macabre out of film Noir. Yet, it felt strangely normal to the two brothers, who had helped restrain their father after his bloody display at the death of Inuyasha's human mother.

No, this wasn't strange.

Not five minutes later, the apartment was swarming with human cops, and less than a minute after that, Inutaishou Morishima strode in, waving away the detective that was harshly questioning his son with a mere flick of his hand.

He was too powerful for them to question and they knew it.

Idly, he watched as they lifted Kikyou's body onto the stretcher and zip her up in a body bag. He didn't cry or feel much remorse for the death of the priestess.

It was true, however, she was beyond good at her job, she was still replaceable. He knelt on the ground with a handful of cotton swabs and took samples of her D.N.A. from the knife, his face serious. He knew that one day, his son would request a clone of her, and he should have this ready for that time.

Finally, he turned to his distraught son as Sesshoumaru ushered the last of the police from the apartment. "Inuyasha."

Once again, the hanyou raised his eyes. Upon seeing his father, his grief welled up inside him and he slowly stood, awaiting whatever punishment he would receive.

He was shocked when it wasn't punishment that was given, but a warm, gentle embrace, and a gentle pat on the back.

"I'm proud of you, son, you controlled yourself well." With that, the great demon released his son and gestured for the genuinely confused boy to take a seat. "What happened?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth, but his throat was swollen from grief and he caught sight of the blood on the floor. A soft sob escaped him and he slowly slid to the floor, pressing the palms of his hands to his eyes.

Inutaishou frowned. He hadn't seen his son cry in almost one hundred and sixty years, when his mother had died. Tears were something that were impossible for full demons, and difficult even for hanyou. Yet...

Inuyasha began speaking through his tears. "I came home...I called, but she didn't answer..." He wrapped his arms around himself, replaying the events. "I...I had just bought the wedding bands...today..." He drug his sleeve across his running nose in a rather childish manner. "I could smell blood...I walked into the kitchen...and she was dead." He took a steadying breath. "There was a note on the table..." He handed it up to his father.

The great demon frowned deeply, reading the note and then his heart froze over towards the girl who his son had loved. "Suicide...?" He growled. "What reason did the witch have to kill herself! You took better care of her than you usually took care of yourself! What fucking reason did she have to kill herself!"

Inuyasha shook his head, hiding his face. "I can't live without her...Please...please, chichi-ue..."

The term startled Inutaishou and he looked down at his son. Slowly, he shook his head. "Not yet, Inuyasha. You don't understand everything about the clones yet. Her DNA can only do so much. Maybe when you're older...I'll make you another girl...but until then..."

The distraught boy looked up in shock. "But I controlled myself, didn't I! I didn't go crazy! I controlled my frustration! I controlled my rage! Why!"

His father rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know it hurts to loose someone you loved. But give it time. I will clone her, but it will take time to get a decent success. If she were just to be used as food, I wouldn't worry so much, but the chips for a companion have to be far more refined than for the other kinds. If we don't get her exactly right, there could be a malfunction, and it could fry her brain completely."

Inuyasha frowned deeply, his face saddening. Slowly, he nodded. "Okay, oyaji...you win." He gave a tortured smile. "But...I don't want to stay here for the time being. It has too many memories...that I'd rather forget..."

Inutaishou patted his son on the back gently. "It will be done."


	2. Chapter 1

Four hundred and fifty six...

Four hundred and fifty seven...

Four hundred and fifty eight...

The pathetic sight of a hanyou laying on his back, his hands laced loosely on his chest staring up at the ceiling, idly counting bumps on it is the sight that would have met anyone visiting Inuyasha Morishima these days.

If he had any visitors besides his older brother and father.

Granted, Kaede, his dead fiancee's sister, was his cleaning lady and cook, but she wasn't aloud to set foot on the top floor, or in his office, or in the attic.

There were some places where you just didn't go in his house.

Places that left Inuyasha feeling violated. Places that reminded him of a woman who had died fifty years ago.

Four hundred and sixty...wait...

The hanyou groaned, rolling onto his stomach and hugging his pillow to his chest. "DAMMIT!" He yelled into the pillow, pressing his face against the down pillow until his lungs began to burn for air. 'Maybe, if I don't move the pillow...' He closed his eyes, pressing his face more firmly against the soft, Egyptian cotton pillowcase.

"Did I hear someone screaming in frustration up there?"

Kaede's call from downstairs caused the hanyou to rip the pillow away and gasp in steady gasps of air. He gave his bedroom door a dirty look and sighed softly. "I just fucking lost count again, babaa!" He shouted back, resting his hand over the back of his eyes. "Mind your business..." He mumbled as an after thought.

Kaede, who stood at the base of the stairs frowned slightly and went to the house phone, dialing the number of her employer. "Morishima-sama...Inuyasha is locked up in his bedroom once again and hasn't eaten or bathed in two days."

"Hmm...you're still banned from going upstairs aren't you..."

She grunted in response. "Ungrateful little prat." She mumbled darkly.

Inutaishou laughed heartily. "Fine. I'll send over someone to drag his behind out of bed. You might want to get out of there before then."

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was once again laying on his back, staring up at his ceiling. He had resumed counting the spots on the ceiling, not noticing that the looked like stars, seeing only globs of white paint on a white ceiling. His room was plain, unadorned, boring. He snorted, hugging his pillow tighter to his chest. 'One of these days I should get off my ass and actually do something to this stupid room...that way at least it would be more interesting to lay in...'

He lay there for another hour, counting the bumps on the ceiling, hugging his pillow to his chest, until finally, someone slammed his bedroom door open. Then he sat up, furious. "Dammit, babaa! I fucking told you you're not aloud up here-" Something flew at his head and he instinctually ducked, rolling out of his bed and onto the floor. "What the fuck!"

"Morning wake-up, Inuyasha!" A female voice chuckled from beside the door.

"Fuck!" The hanyou got up on his hands and knees, glaring at his doorway. Just then, the small boomerang came back in through his open window and clipped one of his ears and a small hand caught it at his doorway. He clutched his wounded ear and winced in pain. "That fucking hurt, damn it!"

A man's chuckle was heard from the door. "Now, Inuyasha, you're just making this more difficult than it has to be..."

"Who sent you!" Inuyasha snarled. "My bastard brother?"

"You know who sent us..." The female said ominously, then she lept into the room, holding another small boomerang in her hand. "Just come out, we wont hurt you!"

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Inuyasha..."

The hanyou growled softly. "I guess you didn't notice, taijiya, that you already DID!" He grabbed something off his bed side table. His alarm clock. Good enough. He turned and heaved it with all his strength at the girl who was attacking him.

Nimbly, she moved out of the way.

The man behind her wasn't so lucky and got hit with the clock full in the face.

The girl watched the man stand very still for a moment then topple backwards. "Hoshimoto-san!"

Inuyasha rested his chin on his hands and waited for the inevitable. The girl leaned over the man to check on him and the man's hand sprung upwards, and grasped the poor unsuspecting girls behind. The girl let out an animal shriek and slapped him hard across the face.

With that, the fight ended and Inuyasha looked at them wryly. "I win, this time."

The girl, who was actually Mirimachi Sango, daughter of the head of security at Taiyoukai Inc., smiled and shrugged. "You usually do, Inuyasha. Your father says you needed a jump start to get you out of bed."

Hoshimoto Miroku sat up and grinned from ear to ear. "He sent us."

"So I have him to thank for the ear..." The hanyou lifted a hand to his ear and winced. "That fucking hurt, Sango."

"Sorry. But...you should have remembered that they do come back..."

"Yeah, sure, blame the wretchedly depressed hanyou." Said hanyou complained, rubbing his shoulders. "At least I'm not out of shape or you'd have nailed me in the face...speaking of which...how's your's Miroku?"

"Tender. Thank you for pulling the throw." Miroku grinned. The hanyou grinned back in response.

Strange as it may be, this kind of wake-up was a normal occurance. For the past five years, whenever Inuyasha got into a good slump, his father would send over the hanyou's two best friends to help him deal with it.

"So...our job is to get you out of the house." Sango cracked her knuckles and get down to business. "So, movies, food, shopping, a little race..." She saw the hanyou perk at the suggestion.

Ah, racing, his most recent reckless hobby. Both Sango and Miroku had their own racing implements, but none had one quite like Inuyasha's. His Suzuki Hayabusa, the fastest production bike available was perfect for tearing up the streets of Tokyo, and in style, because his had a custom paint job in black with silver and gold. It was the envy of most of the illegal street racers that chose to ride on two wheels instead of four.

The only other racer who even challenged his speed was another demon, a wolf-demon, his rival, Yoshiharu Kouga. Both rode upon the all powerful sea bass (Which by the way, is what a Suzuki is, unless you read the Kanji for the company, then I don't know). Kouga's ride was sky blue and only had hints of black and white on it.

"A race in the middle of the day?" Inuyasha wondered aloud, already able to feel the wind ripping through his hair. "That could be nice...but are you two up for the challenge?"

"We are if you are, old man..." Miroku smirked, lightly tapping the hanyou on the shoulder.

Inuyasha climbed to his feet. "Give me half-an-hour." He grabbed a towel off the floor and gave it a cursory sniff. He wrinkled his nose. "Okay, I guess it's time for a clean one..." He walked out of the room and disappeared down the hall.

Sango glanced towards Miroku, a concerned expression on her face. "He's going to go right back into his rut if he doesn't get out and date some..."

"And if he does, then he's going to get right back into a rut if he doesn't meet the right girl..." The boy shook his head, sighing.

"And if he does meet the right girl, he's going to wind up in it if he doesn't get laid..."

"Do you think his father has told him about her, yet?"

Sango looked sharply at Miroku. "I don't know..."

0o0o0o0o0

Inuyasha lifted his face to the spray and sighed softly as the tension was relaxed out of his muscles. The race had been exactly what the doctor had ordered for the day. Yet, as the day wore one, his two well-meaning friends began to wear on him with their 'advice' and 'suggestions' that he should get out more.

That he should start dating again.

He'd made a sincere attempt to explain to them that he didn't need or want a relationship right now. The last failed clone had only been three years ago, and he was still trying to come to terms with the decision he'd made.

The day the last clone had failed, he'd finally snapped on everything. He'd had enough of the failures. When the clone had been sedated, he had thrown a hissy fit and nearly torn his father's office apart. That was when he'd decided that he didn't want to try again.

No more attempts at cloning Kikyou.

No more heartbreak when they failed.

There had been almost fifteen attempts in the past fifty years.

He'd had enough.

His father had been startled by the sudden declaration, and perhaps that was why he'd asked Inuyasha if he was completely certain.

He'd said yes.

All attempts to clone another Kikyou were put to an end. The girls that had been made and shared her DNA were given into adoption to human families, where they would be raised into productive citizens. All of them had been sent very far away from Japan.

His phone rang and the hanyou ignored it. He enjoyed the feeling of the scalding hot water hitting his skin with stinging force, and shook his soaked silver hair behind him. (Don't tell me you fan girls aren't drooling. I can see it.)

Idly, he blessed Sango and Miroku for dragging him from his bedroom for the upteenth time for the past half-a-decade. If it hadn't been for them, he probably wouldn't have made it when the last clone had failed. They were the ones who helped him realize that he could still survive without Kikyou. That he could still enjoy life.

They were his best friends.

A twinge of annoyance grabbed him when the phone rang again. He grabbed his phone off the back of the toilet and flipped it open. He quickly adopted a German woman's accent. "Harro...zis is Helga's house of pain...how may I help you?"

There was a snort on the end of the line. "Inuyasha! Don't fucking answer the phone like that! What would your mother think!"

"Hey, you interrupted my bath, oyaji." He took a calming breath. "What's up, pops?"

"Just wondering how your day went..."

That softened the boy. He'd almost forgotten that the old man was part of the reason he'd had such a decent day. "It didn't suck as bad as yesterday." He said honestly. "Sango and Miroku went out with me and we tore up a few side streets on our bikes."

A long pause. "And what are you doing tomorrow?"

The hanyou thought about it for a bit. "I don't know. I'll think about it later. Maybe I'll go for a long ride..."

He could almost hear his father smile. "I'm glad."

Inuyasha closed his eyes. "I gotta go, dad..."

"I know. Bye."

The hanyou hung up the phone and sighed softly. Yeah, a ride tomorrow sounds like a good idea. Maybe it could keep his mind off of the only girl he'd ever loved.

The girl who killed herself two weeks before their wedding day.

A girl who would evidentially rather die than spend her life with a worthless half-breed like him.

0o0o0o0o0

The next day's ride had taken him to a lot of places. He'd ate lunch at a ramen shop, before hitting his bike again and finding himself at his father's offices. He looked up at the tall sky scraper and sighed, climbing off his bike and walking through the revolving glass doors in the front. When he entered the lobby, everyone went silent.

He was the rouge son, the bastard hanyou who hadn't followed in his father and brother's footsteps. They accused him of leeching off his families success, but he, as usual ignored it. He hadn't needed his father's money in over eighty years, as he'd learned at a young age where to invest the money you have and when to sell the investments you've got.

Inuyasha Morishima may be depressed due to loss, but he was still a shrewd businessman and he had started several custom car shops on his own, which when he wasn't sunk in a rut, he often visited. He even ran an tuner and custom shop for motorcycles himself, doing a great deal of the work himself.

He knew what he was, so who cares what all these stupid rich bastards think? He gave them a careless wave and walked towards the back, where the elevators were. He stepped into the first one that opened and turned back around, finding all of the occupants of the other room staring at him with disdain. He snorted. Haughty bastards. The doors slid closed in front of him and he jabbed the button for the top floor rather roughly.

He managed to keep his mind blissfully blank as he made the assent, and grinned when others got on the elevator, looking at him in mild shock. Some merely shied away from him, but got on anyways, while others said they'd take the next one. Each rude remark was met with a wicked grin.

When he finally reached the top floor, He stepped easily off the elevator and moved past the various demons doing pointless, non-scientific jobs. He reached his father's secretary, and was startled when she stopped him. "What, he's my father, I can go in if I want..."

"He's in a very important meeting. It's this girl's first check-up since activation and although she hasn't had any problems yet, I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be the first..." Kagura said gently. "Go sit in the break room, I'll send him in immediately afterwards."

Inuyasha scowled. "Keh, like you can order me, I'll wait right here."

Kagura scowled. "I suppose you can...but your father will be displeased..."

After five minutes of waiting, Inuyasha was already bored. He began digging through Kagura's pen pot. "Four pens, ten pencils...eight paper clips..."

"When..." Kagura slammed her hand down over his. "Did you get so obsessed with counting crap!"

He grinned. "Dunno. Probably when I was a kid. I've spent the two of the past three days trying to determine the number of paint bumps on my ceiling."

"My god...you need a life..." She shook her head. "No, you need more than a life. You need a girlfriend. You need to get LAID. BADLY."

His grin turned a bit evil. "Why, you offering, Kagura-chan?" He teased.

She turned ghostly white and backed away from her desk. "Don't you go acting like Miroku, Inuyasha Morishima! You're a hanyou so I know you can take a lot more hurt than that puny little human your father hired as your driver!"

He relented. "Relax. I have NO intrest in anyone related in any way, shape, or form to that creepy obsessive bastard, Naraku."

"Wouldn't that be the pot calling the kettle black?"

The slimy voice behind him caused him to turn slowly, seeing Naraku exiting from his father's office. "Naraku...teme..."

"After all, I have long since moved on about that silly woman, Kikyou..." Naraku sneered. "While you still pine over her..."

There was something in the man's eyes that didn't let him believe him. "Eat shit, you piece of shit..."

"Ah, from the sound of that colorful language, my brother is here..." Sesshoumaru glanced through the crack in the door. "You're rather loud, little brother. Please go to the break area as Kagura instructed. We'll be with you shortly."

"Forget it..." Inuyasha glared Naraku dead in the eye as he stalked past him. "Call me on my cell, I'm going for a ride..." As he reached the elevator, Naraku spoke behind him.

"You should be careful on that bike...It would be bad if you were ever in an accident..."

Inuyasha absorbed the threat and took a steadying breath. Yes, a ride is just what he needed. He got into the box and pressed the button for the bottom floor and let the doors close. Stupid bastard always pissed him off...

Back in his father's office, Inutaishou was watching the clone girl leave, his face tired, weary. "Do you think he'll be happy with her? Should we wait another year before we give her to him? Do you think they'll both be happy?"

Sesshoumaru merely shook his head and shrugged. "I can't tell you if he'll be happy with her or not. Vice versa with the girl. She was raised by a clone family. She was never really supposed to go to Inuyasha. She was supposed to be...a form of control, a test. To see if nature or nurture really were what made a person. The girl has fire, a temper, but she is also compassionate. I don't think they'll kill each other, now." A near smile. "It just depends on how well my darling little brother behaves himself."

Inutaishou put his head in his hands. "They're both screwed..."

0o0o0o0o0

Inuyasha sat on a bench, surrounded by people shopping. He was watching the sky as it slowly darkened from sky blue to lavender purple and gave a weary sigh. 'Why couldn't just one of them have succeeded...if one of them had worked...just one...then maybe I wouldn't always feel like I'm alone in the world...'

Only moments later, above the sounds of the city, a familiar voice reached him.

"Don't be silly, Yuka, I'm sure there's absolutely nothing wrong with him."

His eyes flew wide as he realized the reason the voice seemed so familiar. He sat upright and desperately looked around. He thought he caught a glimpse of her, and strained his ears for her voice again.

"No, no, Morishima-sama assures me that he's a nice young man 'once you get to know him', which could be said about anybody!"

That way. He sprung to his feet and began moving through the crowd to the voice.

"Yuka, be nice! I'm sure he's not hideous!"

He broke through the crowd and found himself staring at a group of school girls, who were sitting at a square table, drinking soda or eating some kind of parfait. "Kikyou?" He whispered softly, his eyes narrowing slightly as he examined him.

"Ohmigod!" One of the girl's squeaked out softly, grabbing another by the arm. "Is that Inuyasha Morishima!" She whispered, thinking he couldn't hear her. "He's looking right AT us!"

All of the girls turned around and he found himself staring into the face of his old lover. He sucked in a soft breath and his eyes widened. A moment later, he saw horror fill the girls' faces and one of them screamed, hiding her face. The one who bore such a resemblance to Kikyou shouted.

"WATCH OUT!"

He looked to where she was pointing just in time to catch a speeding car in the face.

0o0o0o0o0


	3. Chapter 2

Cloned

Chapter 2

By Demonsaya

Beep...Beep...Beep...

The loud, annoying buzz of her alarm clock caused her to roll over and slam her palm against the off button before she sat upright in bed, her hair disheveled, her eyes still heavy from sleep. Her pajama hung loosely on her body, making her slender form look even thiner than she was. Wearily, she rubbed her eyes and rolled from the bed in a very cat-like manner.

She dressed in her school uniform, and brushed her teeth, staring into the mirror, at a face that belonged to her, and probably a hundred others.

After all, her identifying number was 16. There were nine other's with her DNA on record after her. She never asked what had become of the 15 before her, and she didn't care. After all, if one of them had been successful, then she'd be aloud to go on with her life as a normal high school student.

Or as normal as the life of Clone could be.

As she brushed her hair, she saw the bar code that was stamped into her neck in the mirror, reflected from the mirror behind her. Lightly she ran her fingers across it, feeling the faintly scarred feeling of the flesh.

Her dark brown eyes closed and she sighed softly, walking out of her bedroom and down the stairs, to the kitchen.

Clones weren't treated particularly well in society. Because of the reasons they're sometimes created, they often were abused by the general populace. Worse yet, the police didn't usually care what happened to you if you were a clone. Rape, beatings, robberies, they'd just sneer and say it was okay, because you weren't human anyways.

Ki16, or Kagome, as her family called her, was a victim of such abuse every day, as she went to school.

The logic, or lack there of, behind it was simple. Initially, cloning had been given the government OK, because a virus had almost wiped humans, the primary source of food for most Youkai, off the face of the planet. Originally, they were only created to be sources of food, but the Morishima family changed all of that. Approximately 200 odd years ago, when the second Mrs. Morishima died giving birth, the demon gave the lives of those he'd taken in his rage back. He implanted them in circumstances exactly like they'd had before their death.

And so the 'companion' clones were created.

Now, they're used for almost everything. Labor, sex, food, as well as companionship, specifically for youkai who'd lost their human mate and are waiting for her to be reborn, or older humans, who'd lost sons and daughters, and wanted a second chance.

Kagome didn't know why she'd been created. She'd often asked Sesshoumaru Morishima, but he'd just tell her that she was an experiment. Then, about two weeks ago, during one of her check-ups, Inutaishou pulled her aside and sat her down.

He explained that she's been the only successful clone with her DNA. All the other's had snapped a short time after activation. He told her that he had to discuss it with the person the DNA had been collected for, but she might have to go to him.

"Ah, you're up!" Her mother came over and gave her a slight peck on the cheek. Kimiko Higurashi was a clone as well. In fact, her entire family was clones, her grandfather being one of the first successful companion clones. He would turn 90 that year. Kagome could see their bar codes as clearly as she could see her own. It was what set them apart from the others, what set her apart from those she attended school wit.

Gracing her younger brothers arms and chest were bruises caused by bullies at school. Two years ago, her grandfather had been pushed down the shrine stairs and luckily only fractured a hip. Her mother had been raped twice in 10 years.

Kagome herself had her own fair share of scars, both mental and physical. She desperately wished that someone would come along and start preaching for clones rights. But that would never happen, because clones weren't people.

The girl's appetite vanished at her thoughts. With a soft sigh, she smiled at her mother and walked over, grabbing her bento box. "I'm not very hungry, mama, I'm gonna head to school."

Her mother's face softened a bit and she nodded. "Go ahead, Kagome."

Quietly, she scooped up her school bag, walking out the door. She'd barely left when her mother rushed out.

"Sweetheart, you have an appointment at Morishima Inc. this afternoon."

Kagome nodded, her face rather serious. "Okay, mama." Then, she began to head towards her school. School was another nightmare. Most of the students there were 'born' humans, rather than 'made' humans, and it created a great deal of segregation and student favoritism.

With a heavy sigh, she pulled a magazine from her bag, and flipped it open. There, laying in a rather boneless manner in front of a fully customized Suzuki Escudo, was Inuyasha Morishima, in her own mind at least, probably THE all time most attractive man in all of the Japanese islands.

Unlike most of the girls her age, however, she bypassed the undoubtedly juicy interview and moved onto the information about the car. Everyone know who the youngest Morishima was, his name equally as well known as his father and older brothers. Oddly enough, with all the time she'd gone to the office, never once had she met him.

Inuyasha Morishima was the poster boy of the automotive and racing industries, as well as for the underground illegal street racing world. He was powerful enough that most in law enforcement looked the other way if he got caught. She and her brother had been to every single race he'd participated in in the last five years.

She brushed her hair over her shoulder, hearing the sound of footsteps following her. She took a steadying breath and pulled a small thin glove from her pocket, slipping it over her hand. Her teeth ground together as she noticed that she was still being followed and she shoved her magazine back into her school bag and hopped from one foot to the other, then broke into a dead sprint. If there was one thing Kagome had gotten really good at, it was out running slime-balls.

She glanced down at the back of the glove and saw the approximate distance to her school, her oxygen intake, her pulse rate, and even the level of fatigue in her muscles. All these things were monitored by a chip that was located at the base of her skull, just beneath the bar code. As the school came into view she breathed easier. She glanced back and found that whoever had been following her was gone now, but she didn't slow down until she'd reached the safety of the school's gates.

As usual, she walked quickly to her class, avoiding the 'born' humans and set her bag down on her desk, waiting for her friends to join her. Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri were all clones as well. Ayumi, like herself, was strictly a companion, while Yuka and Eri had been designed for sex.

As such, their topics usually strayed to more lewd grounds, while Ayumi was a romantic, and loved the idea of being in love. Kagome, meanwhile, who 'had no real purpose' to her knowledge, simply wanted to graduate, and travel far away, where there wasn't such a prejudice towards people like her.

If there was such a place.

"Any news about who you're being given to?" Yuka asked as she walked up, wearing a shortened school uniform skirt, and a collar around her neck. Her socks were baggy. All of these things were things that her 'owner' made her do. The collar was meant as for humiliation.

Kagome shook her head, smiling faintly. She noticed that there were a few new bruises on her arms and glanced away. Her eyes fell upon Ayumi, who was smiling, her face slightly red on one side, as though she'd been struck. She ground her teeth together, looking back at Yuka. "Where's Eri?"

Yuka's calm mask cracked slightly. "She had an appointment this morning...with her GYN..." She said softly.

Kagome's hands closed into fists. "Oh..." That could only mean one thing. Eri had been exhibiting signs of being pregnant for the last month, and she had to figure out a time to get to her GYN without her owner finding out. "If that bastard would figure out what a condom was, she wouldn't be having these problems..." Kagome whispered harshly.

Yuka nodded, sadly. "Or if he'd at least buy her birth control..."

The teacher entered, and class began, until the bell rang for lunch, and Kagome stood, grabbing her bag. "Hey, I'll meet you three at Wildcat Cafe, after school. I have an appointment today."

They nodded, smiling. "Tell us about it when we see you, okay?"

Kagome nodded, then walked out of the room. She reached the front gate and within five minutes, her mother was there, whisking her off to her appointment.

0o0o0o0o0

Kagome sat on the chair, her skin crawling. Although Sesshoumaru Morishima was in the room as well, that didn't soothe the fact that their chief scientist, Naraku, would have his hands on her, however brief the time. She understood the health risk the chips created, and respected it, and feared it, like any smart girl. However, the fact remained that every time she got 'examined' by Naraku, she always felt more like she was being felt up.

Sessoumaru kept his gaze focused on the strange hanyou, his face stoic, noting that Naraku was being unusually slow with the pelvic and breast exams. When the physical had ended and Naraku brought out a mechanical device used to check the settings on a clones ships, the other demon occupying the room stepped forward. "I don't believe that's necessary." Sesshoumaru said.

"All clones need their chips checked once a year until they reach full maturity..." Naraku said, as he continued fidling with it, moving towards Kagome.

Sesshoumaru's face darkened. "Need I remind you that I wrote that rule, or that every year since her chips were activated, my father and I have been the one's making sure they are functioning correctly?" He asked, snatching the device away from the hanyou. He glanced back towards where the girl sat on the table, and then at the tablet. His face turned down into a frown, and he dismissed Naraku with the wave of his hand. When the hanyou was gone, he moved towards her side. "It would appear you are correct. Naraku's acts were lewd and inappropriate."

Kagome nodded soundlessly as Sesshoumaru fiddled with the contraption, and then zapped the bar code on the back of her neck. Her brain scrambled itself for a moment and she put a hand to it to sooth the coming headache.

"No problems yet...hm..." He frowned, glancing back at the tablet. "Go ahead and get dressed, my father wishes to speak to you before you leave. There's a possibility there will be a use for you beyond my experiment."

Kagome sucked in a sharp breath, and nodded slightly.

0o0o0o0o0

Kagome stared into her parfait, the fruits creating brightly colored layers in the ice cream cup. She was shell-shocked from the news. They were going to gift her to someone. A 'family friend', Inutaishou Morishima had called the man. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or miserable, after all, there went her chances of meeting someone and falling in love.

She heard her name called and looked up to see her friends running towards her, Eri's face bright and relaxed. Either the test came back negative, or something else was up. She smiled weakly and waved at them, hoping they didn't notice her smile's forced nature. "How did your appointment go this morning, Eri?" She asked, as they sat down.

"Fine. The doctor said the test was negative, and she gave me a prescription for birth control to prevent any more scares. I got lucky. Any new news from Morishima Inc?"

Kagome smiled weakly and looked at her parfait again. "I'm being gifted." Her friends exploded into titters and such.

"Who is he!" Eri squealed.

Kagome shrugged. "They didn't say, and I haven't met him. Mr. Morishima called him a family friend."

"I bet he's deformed." Yuka said. "Half the people who get 'companions' have something horribly wrong with them."

"Don't be silly, Yuka, I'm sure there's absolutely nothing wrong with him." Kagome lifted her spoon, taking a small bite out of her parfait.

Yuka piped up again. "I bet he has personality problems, then. Like that really obnoxious kid in our class, Moroita? That's his name right?"

"No, no, Morishima-sama assures me that he's a nice young man 'once you get to know him', which could be said about anybody!" Kagome admonished her friend. Why was she defending someone she'd never met before? Probably because she was going to have to at least pretend to be his friend really well.

"They I bet he's hideous." Yuka giggled. "You know, lots of facial hair, like a werewolf, and big warts or scars all over him."

"Yuka, be nice! I'm sure he's not hideous!" Not that she knew, really, they wouldn't even let her see his picture.

Suddenly, Ayumi, who'd been almost silent until now, dropped her spoon and stared at something over Kagome's shoulder. "Ohmigod!" She squealed, grabbing Eri's arm. "Is that Inuyasha Morishima! He's looking right AT us!"

Kagome's eyes widened and she turned, finding herself staring at none other than her 'idol', the most important famous person in her mind.

Inuyasha Morishima.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she realized that he was even more handsome in real life than he was in the pictures. Then, something caught her eye and her heart skipped a beat, as she noticed that a car was barrelling down on him.

"WATCH OUT!" She screamed.

He blinked, and turned, and Kagome stared in morbid fascination with her friends as the car hit him at full speed, sending him up over the hood, into the windshield, and then he flipped up and over the hood of the car, landing in a boneless manner on the ground.

Kagome gasped, jumping to her feet, running towards him. She quickly dug her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed 911. "Hello, yes, I'm at eighth and Moriyama, in front of the Wildcat Cafe. A man's been hit by a car, I think it's Inuyasha Morishima...Yes...yes...okay..." She reached him and dropped to her knees, pressing her fingers to his jugular vein. "Yes, he has a pulse, it's a little eratic..."

By now, people had been gathering around her and the fallen celebrity, crowding her slightly. She asked the person she was speaking to, to hold on for a moment, then looked at the people that were crowding them. "BACK UP!" She shouted, her face red. "An ambulance is coming, and the paramedics don't need you blocking the way!"

Someone behind her snorted. "Why should we _clone_."

Kagome flinched, and she got back on the phone with the operator. "No, ma'am. Yes, yes...I have the Morishima number on speed dial. Yes, I'll contact them. Alright, thank you, ma'am." She hung up and hit speed dial 7 on her phone, holding her finger in front of the hanyou's mouth and nose, checking for breathing. His breaths were hesitant. She checked his pulse again and her eyes flew wide. "Shit!" Without a word, she threw the phone away, straddling his waist, lacing one hand on top of the other, and placing them just below his breast bone. "One...two...three...four...five..." She checked his pulse again, getting nothing.

And now he wasn't breathing.

She cursed and leaned forward, pinching his nose and tilting his jaw down, placing her lips over his, trying to forget that this was a celebrity, pulling all her first aid knowledge to the front of her brain.

There was chaos around her, and she could faintly hear the sound of a siren heading towards her. Several women were screaming. After all, it was distinctly possible that the hanyou on the concrete was dying.

She breathed for him twice more and went back to the chest compressions. She did two more sets, till she got a pulse, and he took in a few unsteady breaths. She breathed a sigh of relief and climbed off of him, just as the paramedics managed to push through the crowd. She was shaken, and noticed she was developing symptoms of shock. She didn't say anything, simply tugging on the neck of her school uniform, as they checked him over and rushed him to the ambulance.

She was startled when another began guiding her towards the ambulance as well. "No, no, I'm okay...really..."

"You're exhibiting signs of shock. The operator said that you called the Morishima family?"

"As I was trying, he lost his pulse, so I started chest compressions instead." She said, shaking as she was wrapped into a blanket and they tied a tourniquet around her arm, before sticking a vein with a needle and starting her on an IV.

They nodded. "You have nurse training?" One asked.

"Something like that. I'm a companion clone. It's part of our basic knowledge in our chips. We have to know how to save our owners..."

One of the EMT's nodded. "Yeah, my daughter has a companion, he's saved her more than once. Nice job miss..."

"Higurashi." She said softly. "Kagome Higurashi."

0o0o0o0o0

The police questioned her while she waited, and she answered them the best she could, despite of their hassling her. It didn't go on for particularly long, though, seeing as just as they were trying to force her to say that _she'd_ hit him with her car, Inutaishou and Sesshoumaru Morishima entered the E.R. waiting room, and saw her there, being hassled.

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief as the cops left, grumbling under their breath. A short time later, a doctor emerged and Kagome stood, about to leave.

Inutaishou stopped her. "Kagome, stay. I'm sure you'd like to see that he is well." He said, smiling slightly.

The doctor frowned, noting Kagome's bar code. "Family only. It's our celebrity policy, I'm afraid."

Inutaishou smiled dangerously at the doctor, his over-sized canines gleaming in the brightly lit room. "Why doctor, she _is_ practically family. Besides, I really do insist..." He rested a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Besides, she did save his life..."

"I saved his life!" The doctor snapped. "She wasn't in the operating room!"

"No, but she did chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth on the pavement where he was hit, giving you a still living body to work with..." Sesshoumaru said evenly. "She stays."

Kagome blushed darkly, hiding her face with her bangs. "Thank you, Morishima-san..." She said soflty.

0o0o0o0o0

Inuyasha was aware of a few people talking in the room, one was his father, another his brother, another an unidentifiable male, and the other...oddly enough sounded like Kikyou.

Isn't that funny?

After all, it wasn't possible that Kikyou was in the room. Kikyou was dead, the production of them had stopped three years ago. All the remaining clones were put in families far away, and would never have their chips activated.

He was in a lot of pain, however, perhaps that's why he thought that he heard his dead lover. He didn't have a single place on his body that wasn't screaming in pain. He heard the unidentifiable male mention that he had two broken ribs, a broken jaw, and his femur on one of his legs was broken.

Well, it looked like he wasn't going to be able to race Kouga next week. He'd still be on the mend, and he would be in no shape to drive his 'busa at insanely high speeds.

He strained to think of the last thing he remembered, and oddly enough, it was warm lips against his, and sweet tasting breaths pushing breath into him. Breath that smelled like lemon drops, and soft silk brushing the sides of his face, scented of lavender. Tiny fingers pressed against his neck, at his jugular, and a soft sigh.

He groaned softly, thinking farther back. How had he gotten put in the hospital? He hadn't been racing had he? No...he'd been looking for something, someone. Someone who sounded exactly like his old lover. He heard the door open and shut and the voices left him, or at least the male ones did.

A soft hand brushed his hair back from his face. "Hi..." The girl's voice said softly. "I'm Kagome. You don't know me...but I've followed your career for years. I saw that time you hit the side of Motegi Super Speedway at 490 miles per hour and hopped out of the car, cursing and fretting, but you had barely a scratch on you."

Heh, he remembered that one. One of the other drivers had forced his cars into a spin, and he hit the wall pretty hard. It caused the car to burst into flames, and there had been a lot of screaming, and panicking.

"That's why I know you'll be OK..." She said softly, and her hand came away from his face. "Right? You have to be OK because if you're not, my little brother is going to cry." She fell into silence, and for a moment, he thought she'd left.

Instead, He felt her hair brushing the sides of his face, and the scent of lavender wrapped around him. This was the girl who'd pulled him from the brink of death. He felt warm lips press against his forehead and he was stunned. Most girls would have taken the opportunity of him being completely defenseless to kiss him on the mouth, but instead he received a rather gentle kiss just below his hairline.

Then, something was wrapped around his neck and he felt hands tying something back there.

_What on earth...?_

Just then, his father's voice broke through the silence. "Kagome, your mother's here."

"Hai." She stood, and something dropped against his chest. "It's a charm..." She explained. "Sort of. I've always worn it. It's blessed by miko's and it's always protected me from harm..." Then, the scent faded, and he realized that she was gone.

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the brightness of the room just made his head hurt worse. He reached down and grabbed the charm she'd given him and lifted it before his gaze. For a moment, he stared at it in confusion. It was a lug nut.

Then, after a moment, he chuckled, then began laughing.

He'd really have to wake up faster next time that girl was here.

She was just too weird.

0o0o0o0o0

_AN: Yeah, a lug nut blessed by miko's as a protection charm. Weird, right? I know a bunch of you are super duper relieved that Inuyasha's OK. Did you really think I'd hurt my favorite hanyou? Come on. Anyways, I thought this chapter, I'd give you Kagome's perspective on life. Oh, and as for what she did...how many of you wouldn't jump on the chance to save your favorite celebrity's life? I would. Just for the money XD But that's not why Kagome did. She's just that nice a person, right XD_


	4. Chapter 3

Cloned

Chapter 3

By Demonsaya

Inuyasha stared up at the ceiling in a dazed manner, playing with the lug nut around his neck, his face calm. He'd been released from the hospital a mere two days after his first admission, put on strict bed rest. The girl, Kagome, had never returned.

He couldn't help but feel a faint disappointment. His father had never said word one about the girl, and Sesshoumaru had merely arched an eyebrow when the hanyou had expressed interest in who she was. After all, the girl had claimed she was a fan of his, yet she'd never returned, had never even made an attempt to see him again.

He sighed heavily, hearing footsteps moving up the stairs. He could tell by the rhythm of the steps the heaviness of them, that it was Kaede coming up to inquire if he needed anything. Since he was on bed rest, he'd had no choice but to lift the restriction. He sighed once again hearing the light rap on his door. "Yes, Kaede?"

"I'm heading out, do you need anything before I go?" The old woman croaked, her face calm, yet emotionless.

He sighed softly, shaking his head. "Go home, babaa." He said softly, rolling onto his side, away from her, staring at the window in silent longing. He didn't want to be cooped up in the house. For a strange reason, his heart was urging for him to get up and venture out of his house. The race he would have to forfeit was in two days and at that point he was still supposed to be on 'bed rest'. The pain in his leg had faded to a dull twinge and the pain elsewhere had pretty much disappeared completely. If he continued healing at this rate, he would be able to race this weekend.

He groaned, fisting his hands in his hair. It didn't seem possible, but he was actually going stir crazy. After his months of self-inflicted house arrest, where he rarely got out of bed to do anything besides make a bowl of instant noodles when midnight hunger gripped him, how could he be so desperate to get away from the four walls that had once felt like home and now felt like a prison.

Inuyasha sighed, rolling back onto his back and reached down, lifting the lug nut back up and staring up at it as though it held all the answers to his problems. The girl wasn't Kikyou, that much was obvious. They had similar faces, similar scents, similar voices even. Yet, the girl wasn't Kikyou. With a groan, he rolled from his bed and began digging through his closet.

He found a clean t-shirt and a pair of jeans, pulling them on and snagged a pair of socks from the top draw of his drawers. Without a word, he moved out of his room and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. He had to get out of this house or he was going to go nuts. He grabbed his leather jacket beside the door and his helmet from the key stand. He wasn't surprised that his keys weren't sitting there, and in their place, was a note.

"Inuyasha,

This is for your own good. I had a feeling you'd disobey doctors orders. Go get back in bed.

Miroku"

The hanyou snorted, picking up his helmet and walking outside. "Idiot thinks that's my only set of keys." He looked around a bit, finding his key-box stone and typed in the pass code. It beeped and opened, revealing another set. He smirked, setting the stone back into place and walked towards his bike, climbing onto it. "Don't worry, I'll take it easy." He muttered in apology to the gods, as well as to his friend as he started up his bike and took off out of his driveway, down the silent streets.

The wind through his hair was exhilarating, and it had been years since he'd taken joy in such a simple thing. He grinned, urging his bike faster, not caring where he was going until he realized that he was sitting downtown, across the street from the cafe he'd seen that girl. What the hell had she said her name was? He rubbed his forehead, sighing. Climbing off his bike, he pulled his helmet off his head and looked around, as if searching for a clue. He turned off the bike and turned on the alarm, listening as it activated with a beep.

He began walking down the sidewalk, still not sure where he was going, just knowing that he didn't want to go home yet. As the people on the sidewalk passed him, they would gasp and whisper, nothing he wasn't used to. However, that action changed when someone shouted out that a Clone was getting the shit kicked out of it.

Everyone created a mob and rushed towards the voice. Inuyasha frowned, lifting his nose. He moved slowly towards the group and pushed his way to the front. There, a small form was sitting, pressed as close to the wall as possible, face hidden behind a curtain of black hair. The scent of lavender wafted under his nose and recognition hit him. Without a word, he moved forwards as the people continued hitting and punching her, kicking her sides as she fell to the ground, never crying out once, but he could smell the salt of her tears.

He grabbed the one closest to him and shoved him into another, sending them both spilling to the ground. Quietly, he lifted his gaze as everything around him went silent. "Get your filthy hands off her." He said in a deadly calm voice.

Whispers went up around the crowd and one of them gave her an extra kick in the ribs. "What'll you do if I don't, call your rich daddy!"

Inuyasha smirked, cracking his knuckles a wicked expression on his face. He moved towards the human boy and caught his collar, bringing his lips close to his ear, lowering his voice so only the boy could hear him. "I was thinking more along the lines of slicing off body parts...see, I like to hurt assholes who hurt girls. I think I'd start with your fingers...I'd cauterize the wounds of course, so you wouldn't bleed to death...then your toes, then up to your ankles and wrists..." He took great pleasure in the sudden scent of urine that covered the boy. "Then maybe your knees...I'd save the best for last..." Slowly, he set the boy down and dusted his shirt off calmly. "You get what I mean?"

The boy was pale and shaking, his eyes wide and frightened.

"Then get the hell out of here..." Inuyasha smirked diabolically as the boy turned and ran as fast as he could. When he rounded on the others, they backed away from the girl. He moved towards the girl and caught her chin, lifting her face so he could look at her. Sure enough, it was the girl he vaguely remembered from just before he was turned into road kill. Blue eyes looked up at him, tears and fear dancing in her eyes. Also, he could just detect a little bit of shock and hope.

Gently, he helped her stand, steadying her as she stumbled. He fixed the crowd of onlookers with a cold gaze and it parted out of his way as he helped her away from the onlookers. Now that the action was over, the people began to disperse, looking disappointed that the 'punishment for being unnatural' was stopped. As they walked, Inuyasha noticed that none of the girl's tears had fallen.

Kagome slowly looked up at him, feeling weak and sick to her stomach. "Why...?" She asked softly, unable to understand why a boy who she'd only met once had saved her. She saw a wry smile on his face and blushed, looking away.

"Why not?" He asked. "You did it for me." He pointed out, grinning at her. He saw the shock on her face and helped her sit on a bench near a vending machine. He pulled out some change and bought an iced coffee and a soda. He handed her the soda and cracked open the iced coffee, looking down at her. "You always walk home after dark?" He asked sitting beside her, and ignoring the people staring at him like he was insane for talking to the girl. He leaned back, looking back at them like they were the weird ones. Hell, they probably were.

Kagome took a small sip of the soda, shaking her head. "No...I had a cram session. I told my mom I'd be okay without a ride..." She sighed, staring into the small can. "Guess I was wrong..."

He looked towards her, questions about her eating at him but he could see that she wasn't particularly comfortable. "Maybe because you gave something away that you needed more than the person you gave it to." He pulled the chain with the lug nut from around his neck and held it up in front of her.

Her eyes widened and a blush covered her face. "How did you know I gave it to you?" She asked, blushing darkly.

Now there was a huge difference. Kikyou never blushed like that. He grinned and tapped his nose. "Scent. Ya know it's the sense with the closest link to memory." He leaned over, sniffing her hair and grinned. "Lavender?"

She hid her face, feeling that the blood in her face would be stuck there permanently. "H-hm..."

"I..." He sighed, sitting back and looking away. "You didn't come back. I've been wanting to thank you. My brother and father wouldn't tell me anything." He sighed, then looked towards her ruefully. "At least I got to play the rescuer this time."

She felt a small smile form on her face as she cupped the can between her two hands and looked up at him. "Thank you, Morishima-san..." She said shyly, lowering her eyes.

He grinned, and gently put the lug nut over her head, tying it behind her neck. "You need it more than me." He explained, and ruffled her hair. "And by the way, it's Inuyasha. Morishima-san is my brother." He made a gagging face and was relieved to see the girl giggle softly. He grinned in return and stood. "Come on, I can at least walk you home."

She looked up at him, wide-eyed. "Weren't you really hurt, though?"

He grinned back at her. "Guilty as charged. I was actually supposed to be on bed rest till Sunday morning, Saturday night is my race against Kouga. Looks like I have to forfeit." He sighed, scowling. "I hate to let that bastard walk away with a win, though. Especially without a fight." He paused. "Do you like motorcycles?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a bit.

Kagome's eyes widened and she blushed, nodding. "I love them!" She breathed. "Wait...is that how you got here!"

He watched the girl go from meek to super excited in a matter of moments. A bemused expression formed on his face and he nodded. "Yeah. Most of my cars stay at my garage. The 'busa comes home with me." He said grinning. "How about I give you a ride?"

Her eyes lit up and she nodded, smiling brightly.

He gestured for her to follow him, downing the rest of his iced coffee and tossing the can into a waste bin. He heard her footsteps behind him and grinned, glancing back at her and seeing her face turn radiant when she set eyes on the racing bike. "It's going to be a bit uncomfortable for two, but if you keep your head down and hold on tight, it should be okay."

"What about a helmet?" She asked, worried suddenly.

He grinned towards her. "What about it?" He saw the mild fear on her face and chuckled. "Okay, tell ya what. I wont wear mine either. He slipped it into his pack and passed it to her. "You wear that okay? Make it for easier for you to hold on to me." He winked at her.

His light teases were causing her to blush repeatedly. She watched as he climbed on the back of the bike and gestured for her to climb on behind him. She hesitated only for a moment, then climbed on, shouldering the bag easily, gripping the back of his leather jacket. She felt the bike purr beneath them as he turned it on and hid her face against his back.

"Hold on tight." He instructed glancing back at her. He felt her arms slowly move around his waist and felt a blush hitting his own cheeks. She was warm. It had been so long since he'd felt anyone of the fairer sex embrace him in such a manner and it sent tingles through his system. He bit his lip, coaxing the bike forward.

In the position he was in, he could feel her heart thundering against her chest and he grinned, coaxing the bike faster along the street. Their hair streamed out behind them, tangling together, and he grinned, passing a cop at well above the speed limit. He heard the cop pull out behind him and laughed, coaxing the bike faster. He heard the girl's heart skip a beat when the siren was turned on and he felt her turn to look back. "Wanna loose them?" He asked, barely glancing back at her.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat as she looked back at his face. "Why?"

"Because if my dad finds out I'm skipping out on bed rest he'll kill me himself." He said with a wry smirk. "Let's loose them!" He took a sharp turn, and watched as his speedometer pushed up to 150 and grinned, breaking and taking another sharp turn at about 80 mph. He felt the girl hug his waist tighter and he grinned. He could still hear the sirens and his keen hanyou eyes picked out human cops trying to lay a trap for him.

A wicked grin turned up his lips and he yelled back to her. "Hold on REALLY tight, this is going to be a little rough!" He popped a wheelie, landing on the hood of one of the cop cars and driving over it. He glanced back, grinning furiously. They were jumping around and cursing vehemently. He slowed, turning down an alley a good three miles from the roadblock and he moved deeper between streets, till he finally allowed the bike to come to a complete stop. He grinned and looked back at the girl who's face was flushed with excitement. "You okay?"

She lifted her face, and saw the grin on his and grinned back. "That...was SO COOL!" She jumped from foot to foot a few time and then threw her arms around his neck, hugging the life out of him. "Thank you SO MUCH!"

He chuckled, patting her back lightly and waiting for her to realize that she was hugging him. It didn't take long. As soon as she began to calm down, she jumped back away from him as though burned. "Glad you enjoyed it." He teased lightly.

She blushed, lowering her face. "I guess I should really get home..." She said, her voice edged with disappointment. "About this time, mom's probably worried sick..."

That startled him. "You live with your mom?" He asked, looking at her in shock. He saw her hesitate and chuckled. "Relax. I'm actually nothing like those assholes back there. Clone or not, you deserve a family, too." He saw her lips turn into a sad smile and brushed a stray hair behind her ear. "Where do you live, I'll give you a lift. No police chases this time, promise."

She smiled a bit more honestly. "Higurashi Shrine." She said softly. She paused, looking up at him. "Oh, I'm so rude, I haven't even introduced myself..." She extended her hand shyly. "I'm Kagome." She said.

He gently took her hand, shaking it firmly. "Inuyasha." He replied back, watching as she blushed, and idly wondered if she was going fangirl on him. He straddled his bike again and felt her climb on, wrapping her arms around his waist without hesitation. He relished the feeling and directed his bike towards where she'd told him. They sped off and he felt the girl burrow into his back and smelled sadness on her. He frowned a bit and eased slowly to a halt in front of the long stair case. He felt the girl jump off the back of the bike and she handed him his bag, looking at the ground, wearing a strange expression. "What's wrong?" He asked evenly.

She looked at him in surprise. Then, she sighed, giving him a weak smile. "Would you like a cup of tea?" She asked softly, shuffling her feet shyly.

He blinked, and idly wondered if he was willing to see her walk out of his life again. It could be months before he saw her again. He grinned, nodding. "Yeah, that sounds nice." He said, and turned off the bike, activating the alarm. He saw her standing a little ways up the stairs and jogged to catch up with her, wincing as he put a little too much pressure on his bad leg.

Kagome saw the slight twisting of his face and moved down the stairs to his side quickly, catching his arm, steadying him. "Are you okay?" She asked, looking up at him through wide eyes. She saw the wry grin on his face and blushed darkly.

"You know, you keep doing things like that I'm gonna think you have a crush on me." He teased her lightly. He saw her cheeks darken further and she quickly looked away, releasing his arm and gesturing for him to walk with her. He frowned, wondering why she hadn't responded, why she'd released her grasp on him so quickly. There was a deeply troubled expression on her face and she was refusing to look at him. He fell into step beside her and gently rested his hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

She rewarded him with a weak smile as they cleared the top of the stairs and she saw her mother pacing worriedly by the front door. When the woman's grey-blue eyes rested on her, there it was. Her mother's famous anger.

"Higurashi Kagome, you were supposed to be home over an HOUR ago! Where the hell have you been!" She asked shrilly. She didn't even register the boy at her daughter's side, nor the mild bruises which were fading quickly from the girl's face. "I've been worried sick! I was about ten minutes from calling the police and having them start LOOKING FOR YOU!"

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but the boy beside her jumped in for her.

"I'm afraid it's my fault, ma'am." He said, smoothly, giving her one of those smiles that he gave to his fans when asked an embarrassing question. It was a slightly nervous half-smile, just giving a hint of the over-sized canines. It sent most girl's swooning.

"I didn't ask you, young man!" Mrs. Higurashi, however wasn't a fan, she was a worried mother still. "No matter who you're with young lady, if you're going to be late, you better CALL!"

Kagome lowered her head and felt guilt overwhelming her. "I'm sorry, Morishima-san..." She said softly. "I know I offered you some tea for you rescuing me, but it looks like this might be a bad time-"

The woman froze, and looked at the boy for the first time, REALLY looking at him. Upon realizing that she was in the presence of the youngest Morishima son, she paled and backed up a step. Then, the rest of her daughter's words registered. "Wait...rescued you..." She saw the faint bruises on her daughter's face and tears filled her eyes. "Oh, baby girl..." She pulled her into a warm embrace, pressing her face into the girl's hair. "Oh, baby..." She began crying into her daughter's hair. "What did they do?" She pushed her daughter back a bit, beginning to fuss over her.

"They were just beating me up, mom. It's not the first time..." She said softly, gently soothing the older woman. "I'm a tough girl, mama, I'm okay..." She glanced towards Inuyasha wearing an expression that said how sorry she was.

Her mother turned towards Inuyasha, tears still in her eyes. "You saved my little girl?" At his nervous nod, she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly and bawling into his shoulder. "Oh, bless you! Thank you so much, Morishima-san!"

He looked towards Kagome, and chuckled a bit, patting her back. "Hey, I owed her one. And like I told your daughter, my BROTHER is Morishima-san. He's got 12 years on me. It's just Inuyasha." He said softly, then glanced back at the sobbing woman. "Let's get her inside." He told the teenager gently, easing both towards the door and sniffed the air carefully. He could smell something that didn't make him very comfortable. It smelled like that stupid bastard that worked with his father. That bastard Naraku.

As he kicked his shoes off at the door, he heard the padding of footsteps heading towards the door.

"So, Nee-chan what your...excuse..." The boy's eyes suddenly landed on him and flew wide. "Oh my GOD! You're Inuyasha Morishima!" The boy ran over, darting back and forth. "How do you know my sister! Oh, my GOD, this is so COOL! Shippou is NEVER going to believe me!"

Inuyasha glanced towards Kagome, a bemused expression on his face. "So he's a fan, too?" He teased her lightly, watching that sweet blush paint her cheeks. He was beginning to love that blush.

0o0o0o0o0

Kagome watched from where she sat on the couch, her books spread out around her. The hanyou and her brother were sitting on the floor quite comfortably, trying to out race each other at GT4. It appeared that Inuyasha had slipped into their family situation quite comfortable and didn't seem fazed at all with the bar codes on the back of their necks.

If only she weren't being gifted. She could really see herself falling completely and easily in love with the light-hearted hanyou. He laughed so easily, and her brother adored him, yet he wasn't acting like the arrogant star they had seen on TV. He was acting...like part of the family. She blushed faintly at the thought and quickly looked away, embarrassed and ashamed with herself. After all, she was probably being gifted to some old person who wanted to screw the brains out of some young girl.

Inuyasha saw the slightly sad expression on Kagome's face and looked away from the game. Just in time to crash into the wall of the track. He heard the crunch and looked back to the screen watching as Souta passed him on the track.

"HAH! VICTORY!" Souta shouted, thrusting a fist into the air.

"Souta, it's time for bed!" Their mother called from the kitchen. The boy opened his mouth to object when the voice came out once again. "No, not one more race, go to bed now young man!"

"Aw, man..." The boy groaned, but looked at Inuyasha and grinned. "Can you come back tomorrow!"

Inuyasha looked startled, glancing over towards Kagome uncertainly. "I don't know." He said evenly. "We'll see what I can do."

That was good enough for the boy. He bounded up the stairs while Inuyasha set about shutting off the TV and Playstation, and winding up the controllers so they were out of the way. He glanced at his watch and winced. It was getting past midnight. "Damn...I should head back..."

Kagome looked towards him, a mildly disappointed expression on her face. "You probably have a long drive, huh..."

"About two hours." He admitted. He stretched, yawning widely. He covered his mouth with a splayed hand and heard the girl giggle softly. He grinned back at her. He felt uneasy, however, leaving while Naraku was still outside, and he could definitely smell that worthless excuse of a hanyou outside.

The middle-aged mother peeked her head out of the door and glanced at them. "Two hours is too far a drive this late, Inuyasha." She said firmly. "You stay here for the night. I hope you don't mind the couch, but all of the other rooms are full...Unless you'd prefer sleeping with Souta."

The hanyou grinned ruefully. Leave it to the woman to solve his problem for him. "I don't think Souta would get a lick of sleep with me in his room. The couch is probably the safest bet." He looked towards Kagome and saw her blushing slightly and grinned. "That is, if you don't mind." He said in a teasing manner, watching her face darken.

She hummed, tapping her chin with her pencil, pretending to think about it really hard. "I suppose I could go finish studying in my room..." She said evenly. She began cleaning up her scattered papers and was startled when Inuyasha flopped down right beside her on the couch, leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling. He grinned a bit after a moment.

"You don't have a textured ceiling..." He said, glancing towards her.

She blinked, looking up at the smooth ceiling. "No, mom hates them." She paused, frowning. "She says they remind her of hospitals..." She said softly, her face growing upset.

Inuyasha felt her mood go from playful to melancholy and looked towards her, seeing her cleaning up the schoolwork once again. "Ne, Kagome, do you have problems like today often?" He asked softly, gently stilling her hand with his.

She blushed at the contact and looked towards him. "You really don't know?" She asked softly, her eyes lowering to the ground as she settled back to the seat, hugging herself tightly. "You don't know how clones are treated..."

He frowned, seeing the resigned expression on her face. He opened his mouth to speak, but she raised her hand. He stopped and really looked at her. Her bruises had already faded completely from view, making it impossible to tell she'd ever been attacked. He looked down and took a steady breath. "Kagome, I want to know." He said evenly.

She lifted her gaze to look at him. "Clones are made for three things. Companions, sex, and food. Most born humans look at Clones, especially the companions designed for youkai and hanyou as unnatural. Once our chips are activated, we don't grow old. We stagnate at a steady age for the rest of our existence, until the hanyou or youkai we're gifted to tire of us, then we are terminated." She saw the shocked expression on his face and looked at the ground again.

"Humans...and most youkai who's families aren't in the field of cloning treat us all like meat. We are quick to heal, so abuse goes unreported. When one of us land in the hospital from the treatment, the police don't care and we generally get the most poor treatment." She looked down at her hands, sighing. "There are about ten families like mine in the country. We were clones from random DNA, and put into random situations. Morishima-sama explained it was a kind of 'test' of the theory of nature versus nurture. But we are treated the same as every other clone."

Inuyasha lowered his gaze, his heart aching for the girl and the girl's family. If only there was a way he could take care of all of them.

"I've been beaten up regularly since I was a child, all because of a stupid bar code at the back of my neck." She looked towards the hanyou and saw his face hidden from view. She smiled ruefully. "I move on, and I live with it. I like to think that I'm too strong to let the actions of petty, prejudiced people affect me."

He lifted his head and looked towards her. "You shouldn't have to force yourself to cope with stupid bastards." He said softly. Gently, he brushed a strand of hair back from her face and leaned towards her a bit, a serious expression on his face. "I wish there was a way...that I could stop people from treating you and your family like dirt..."

She blushed at the gentle caress and her heart skipped a beat at his words. "Inuyasha..." She said softly, feeling warmth wrapping around her.

"I tell you what..." He said softly. "Tomorrow morning, I'm giving you and your brother a ride to school." He saw her eyes widen with shock and grinned at her. "Hey, I still owe you. I just rescued you from a few stupid bastards. You saved my life. Until I feel I have sufficiently returned the favor, I'm going to protect _you._"

Kagome closed her eyes and felt her heart swell in her chest. "Thank you..." She whispered softly, wrapping her hand gently around his and squeezing it. A tear fell down her face and she hid her face.

"Go to bed, Kagome." He said softly. "I'll see you in the morning..."

She turned towards him a bit and gave him a warm smile, standing and nodding. "Sleep well, Inuyasha." She said softly, walking towards the stairs and stopping at the base. "If...if you need anything, I'm first door on the left." She said softly.

He watched her leave and pulled out his phone, dialing a familiar number. It rang several times and a tired sounding Miroku answered the phone.

"Inuyasha...what the hell do you want at...12:48 in the morning?" Miroku asked blearily in an irritated tone of voice.

"I need you to bring me a car from the Garage at 6:00 am." He said evenly, stretching out on the couch and closing his eyes.

"What the hell?" The boy asked. "You're on bed rest, remember, not supposed to get out of bed, not supposed to walk around, not supposed to leave the house."

"Too late. I'm at Higurashi Shrine right now."

There was an eruption of cursing on the other end of the phone and the hanyou grinned ruefully. "Miroku, I found her. The girl that saved me. I'm taking her to school in the morning." He heard more sputtering and chuckled softly. "Look, I'm fine. Tell dad and my brother not to worry too much, I'm just watching after her for a bit. Life debt and all...Yes, she's pretty, you git." He frowned. "Look, just bring me a car, and I'll deal with the rest...g'night, Miroku."

He hung up the phone and looked up at the ceiling with a determined expression. No one was going to hurt these people anymore. A wry grin turned up the corners of his lips. Well, at least he had something to do.

0o0o0o0o0

_AN: Another Chapter gone, and this story is now far away from my original plans for it. As everyone can see, I posted a test chapter for two of my new stories. I'm still thinking about posting the other two. One of them WILL have mature content, and since does not support such content, only a partially butchered part of the story will be posted here, one that includes no lemons. I will post the full, uncut version on mediaminer. I really hope I can keep it tasteful, like terri botta's "Lucky One's" (If you haven't read it yet, I HIGHLY recommend it). Anyways, you know the drill, Once you've read, please review. Saya-chan might just get up off her butt and write another chapter. Love, Peace, and Doughnuts!_


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